"About how it happens that the Vicomte de Bragelonne always accompanies you in all your walks, as you invariably accompany him in his."
"And you conclude either that he loves me or that I love him?"
"Why not?—he is a most agreeable and charming companion—No one hears me, I hope," said Lucy Stewart, as she turned round with a smile, which indicated, moreover, that her uneasiness on the subject was not extreme.
"No, no," said Mary, "the king is engaged in his summer-house with the Duke of Buckingham."
"Oh! apropos of the duke; Mary, it seems he has shown you great attention since his return from France; how is your own heart in that direction?"
Mary Grafton shrugged her shoulders with seeming indifference.
"Well, well, I will ask Bragelonne about that," said Stewart, laughing; "let us go and find him at once."
"What for?"
"I wish to speak to him."
"Not yet; one word before you do; come, Stewart, you who know so many of the king's secrets, tell me why M. de Bragelonne is in England?"